vending machine
56
1.9
- noun
- /ˈvɛndɪŋ məˈʃin/
:
máquina expendedora
- Overall, high schools and public schools had more vending machines than middle and private schools.
- beverage vending machine
- food vending machine
- water vending machine
I don't like vending machine snacks, but I'm feeling guilty.
- I don't like vending machine snacks, but I'm feeling guilty.
- Hers has the vending machine with the arm that brings down your drink.
- I got it in a hospital vending machine as if that was going to be better.
- We're going to purchase a SIM capsule from the from this vending machine.
- But anyway, there was a time where in middle school, there was a vending machine that had these like fruity drinks in them.
Examples
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If you have an attractive image on a vending machine, people will just stay there and look at it.
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- He found it in the vending machine.
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I got it in a hospital vending machine as if that was going to be better.
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Can we do the vending machine thing now?
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I got a little hungry and thought I'd grab something from the vending machine.
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In terms of water treatment, most water vending machines provide one or more levels of purification.
Academic text (1994) -
Cheetos and coke from the vending machine, on me!
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Nate brought Jill some terrible coffee from a nearby vending machine, and they waited some more.
Fiction book (1996) -
I bought hot sake from a vending machine, which we drank in Shiba Park.
Fiction book (1998) -
I bought a cold drink from the vending machine while waiting for my appointment.
Synonyms
3
7.3
A restaurant where you buy ready food from machines
How Automated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a machine that automatically sells goods' is transparently derived from combining 'vending' (selling) with 'machine' (a device), following a standard noun–noun compositional pattern. This type of compound is common in English (e.g. 'washing machine') and cross-linguistically similar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The name vending machine comes from the idea of a vending 'sell' machine that takes money and gives goods. Imagine putting in a coin and a box giving you a drink, and that picture explains why the phrase means a machine that sells items automatically.